Automated service scheduling system based on customer value

ABSTRACT

An automated system uses a decisioning system to schedule service attendants to service events at patron locations. The decisioning system schedules the events for servicing using various factors to establish the priority of different events. Service attendants are paged by the system to inform them of a service to be provided.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) fromprovisional application Ser. No. 60/245,903 filed on Nov. 3, 2000, whichis incorporated by reference herein. This application is also related toSer. No. 09/782,616 filed on Feb. 12, 2001, by Mark C. Pace and ThomasW. Cook, which application is commonly owned, and incorporated byreference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to systems for automating the servicing ofpatrons, and more particularly, to systems variously employing two-waypaging and rule-based scheduling systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Patrons of certain businesses are often in need of services toaccommodate their needs and desires. For example, in a casino, playersat slot machines (or other types of casino gaming machines) are often inneed of services from service attendants, for example to pay outjackpots, correct a problem with the machine, or the like. Presently,the delivery of these and other services to slot machine players is bestdescribed as random acts of kindness. This is largely due to the factthat getting slot service is dependent on a service attendant's abilityto see visual cues (e.g., flashing “Jackpot” lights) or to hear audibletones (e.g., various alarm sounds) emitted by the slot machine needingservice. However, given the amount of activity on a casino floor,especially on busy evenings and weekends, this way of identifying whichplayers need service results in service that is at best, sporadic, andat worst, haphazard, slow, and unsatisfactory to the player. Playersoften sit for many minutes waiting for a service attendant, unable tocontinue playing.

To maximize the chance of identifying slot service events and reduce theamount of time it takes to respond to a player's needs, the casino issectioned into areas, and service attendants roam through the aisles ofslot machines in their assigned section. If, as is often the case, aservice attendant identifies several simultaneous service needs, she isunable to determine which player needed service first and thereforewhich to respond to first. This service delivery methodology is not onlyinefficient, but also tends to upset players who saw other guestsattended to first even though they had been waiting for assistancelonger.

Various systems that improve on this service methodology have beenimplemented. These systems fall into two categories, paging systems anddispatch systems. Conventional paging systems rely on a messagegenerated by a Slot Management System (SMS) to identify slot serviceneeds. When a slot machine is in need of service, it sends the SMS amessage indicating the type of service required. The SMS in turn,forwards the message to a paging system. The paging system parses outthe message, identifies the location of the slot machine and pages theservice attendants working in that section of the casino.

This system, although significantly better than the roaming process, hasa number of shortcomings. First, these one-way paging systems do notverify that the message was actually received by a service attendant whocan actually provide the desired service. The casino operator must havefaith that the message was received by the attendant, read, understood,and that the service attendant actually delivered the needed service.Often, either the message is not received or even if received, theattendant is too busy with other tasks to immediately respond to themessage, and go to the player in need of service. As a result, theplayer is still left waiting for service, sometimes for a considerablelength of time.

Second, these one-way paging systems are incapable of identifying whichservice providers in a given section are busy and which are free.Consequently, these systems are designed so that all incoming servicerequests are sent to all of the service attendants in a given area. As aresult, each attendant receives many messages, most of which theattendant cannot respond to. This constant barrage of pages overloadsand frustrates the service attendant, leading to pages being ignored,and in some drastic cases, pagers being turned off.

Third, these types of paging systems do not make any attempt to scheduleor prioritize the services provided to the players, but rather operatein a strict first-come, first serve fashion.

Dispatch systems are modeled after those used by Police Departments andEmergency Medical Technicians. They rely on human interaction between adispatcher sitting in front of a number of computer monitors, and theservice attendants on the casino floor. A slot machine in need ofservice sends a message to the SMS that is displayed on the dispatcher'sworkstation. When the dispatcher sees the service event, she uses a2-way radio asking for any free service attendant in the appropriatearea of the casino to respond to the event. One of the available serviceattendants will respond, and this attendant is then given theinformation required and asked to provide the service needed. When thedispatcher is ready to assign another task, she can verify that theservice attendant is free and ready to be dispatched again.

This system is better than traditional one-way paging in that it allowsthe casino operator to verify that the service attendant received themessage and that she is delivering the service needed. The two-waycommunication between two human beings, dispatcher and service attendantcreates a strong sense of teamwork and general esprit-de-corps, howeverthis comes at a price. The cost of staffing even a small dispatch centerrequires at least 4 full time equivalents to cover a modest size casinofloor 24 hours a day, seven days week, at an estimated cost of over$160,000 annually.

The implementation of one or both of these systems is a significantimprovement over the roaming service delivery methodology, yet both ofthese systems still rely on a first-in first-out (FIFO) method of slotservice scheduling. That is, service attendants are instructed to handleservice requests in the order in which they are received. In today'shighly marketed casino industry, where customers are rewarded based ontheir level of play, the FIFO methodology is at odds with the rewardsand incentives programs used by casino operators.

More particularly, casinos today have many different types of programsthat distinguish players based on their level of gaming activity.Players who play frequently and bet in large amounts are typicallyconsidered premium players, and given various types of incentives and“comps,” such as free rooms, discounts, and the like. Casinos determineplayer activity level through various types of bet monitoringtechniques, including affinity card programs that use identificationcards to track player betting levels in gaming machines. However, whenit comes to providing slot service, these premium players are treated nodifferently than other level players.

Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a system and methodology ofservice that combines the features of the paging and dispatch systemwhile adding functionality that more closely ties in to the incentiveprograms used by the casino (or other business) to differentiate itspatrons.

Beyond casinos, other types of business establishments also need toprovide services to patrons. For example, hotels often support a varietyof services for patrons, such as room service, housekeeping, concierge,valet, and so forth. Conventionally, a patron telephones the desiredservice department, which then sends an available attendant to thepatron's room (or other location). Conventional systems scheduleservices for all patrons on a FIFO basis, without regard of theparticular value of the patron to the hotel. To the extent thatdifferent patrons obtain different service levels, it results more fromhappenstance, than from a systematic approach to provide service. Thesame appears to be true of other business that provide services tocustomers, such as airlines, cruise ships, hospitals, and so forth.

Thus, it is also desirable to provide systems and methodology of servicedelivery that scheduling services to patrons of a business inconsideration of factors such as the availability of service attendantsand the value of the patron to the business.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention overcomes the limitations ofconventional service approaches by using a rule-based system thatschedules service attendants to service events associated with patronsby determining a priority for each event. Higher priority events arescheduled for service before lower priority events. When an event isready for servicing according to its priority, the system selects aservice attendant who is available to service the event and a page istransmitted to that service attendant. The priority of events is basedon various factors such as the value of the patron to the business, thetype of event, and the length of time that the event has been pendingfor service.

In one particular embodiment useful for servicing players in a casino,the value of player is preferably based on a player's rating, which is acategorization of the player's value to the casino. Player value (alsoknown as player “worth”) may be based on various types of analysis ofthe player's betting activity or other activity from which the casinoderives revenue from the player. One useful measure of player value is aplayer's theoretical win profile, which is an estimate of the casino'sexpected revenue per time period based on the player's historicalbetting activity. A player's theoretical win profile is typicallyupdated as the player continues to gamble, and thus, the player's valuemay change over time in accordance with the player's gaming behavior.Other measures of value of the player may also be employed, such asmembership in particular clubs, groups, or organizations. Status of aplayer (e.g., “VIP”) may also be used as a proxy for player value.

The rule-based system periodically updates event priority, so thatevents that are initially low priority may be upgraded to higher (orhighest priority) if they are pending over a certain amount of time. Inthis manner, the rule-based system allows the casino (or other business)to tailor its service policies to service premium value players morequickly, while ensuring that unrated or lower value players receiveservice within at least certain minimum standards.

In another embodiment, the present invention utilizes a two-way pagingsystem to identify service attendants who are available to serviceevents. The system keeps track of which service attendants are busy andwhich are available to service events. The system selects a primaryservice attendant who is indicated as being available, to receive a pageidentifying a service event to be handled. The primary service attendantresponds with a page that indicates whether she accepts or declines toservice the event. If the primary service attendant declines, the systemselects a secondary service attendant who is available to service theevent, and transmits a page to this secondary service attendant. In thismanner, the system ensures that service attendants who can readilyservice the event are paged, rather than relying on service attendantsto volunteer to service events.

In another aspect, the present invention operates to ensure timelyservicing of events, so that these events are resolved in an effectiveand timely manner. The system monitors the amount of time taken by aservice attendant to service an event. If the amount of time takenexceeds a threshold amount of time, then a page is transmitted to asupervisor. The supervisor can then attend to the event, for example, bygoing to the patron's location (e.g. a player's gaming machine), andservicing the event, or may take other actions as appropriate. Theaspect further ensures that patron's obtain prompt resolution of theirservice events.

One system useful in the casino environment includes a number of gamingmachines coupled over a network to a slot management system. The gamingmachines transmit event information to the slot management system,indicative of events occurring at the gaming machines, some of which mayneed servicing. The slot management system provides selected eventinformation to a rule-based decisioning system. The rule-baseddecisioning system includes a set of rules that prioritize events forservicing. The rules are established by the system operator, and includerules that prioritize events based on the player's value or status, thetype of event, and the length of time the event has been pending. Apaging system receives and transmits pages to and from serviceattendants. Service attendants use the pagers to indicate whether theycan service an event, and optionally to send pages indicating the statusof the service, such as that the service is completed.

The invention also has embodiments in software products and computerreadable media used to control a computer system in accordance with theteachings and principles of the invention.

Another type of system is useful in the hotels, cruise ships, andsimilar environment. This type of system includes a number ofcommunication devices disposed at or near locations of the patrons. Forexample, in a hotel each patron's room may be equipped with a terminal,a computer, or a telephone. The communication devices communicate overan appropriate network to a decisioning system. Patrons use thecommunication devices to communicate requests for service, such as roomservice, beverage service, a housekeeping call, a valet request, and soon. Each of these requests may be understood as an event. Thedecisioning system includes a set of rules that prioritize events forservicing. The rules are established by the system operator (e.g., hotelmanagement), and include rules that prioritize events based on thepatron's value or status, the type of event, and the length of time theevent has been pending. The patron's value may be determined based onhistorical activity of the patron, such as historical spending by thepatron, or by a proxy of the patron's value, such as a room rate or roomtype in a hotel (e.g., patrons in more expensive rooms have a highervalue because they are more likely to generate higher revenues for thehotel). A paging system receives and transmits pages to and from serviceattendants. Service attendants use the pagers to indicate whether theycan service an event, and optionally to send pages indicating the statusof the service, such as that the service is completed. The decisioningsystem has information pertaining to the location of each patron basedon the known location of the communication device used by the patron,and thus can select service attendants assigned to, or available nearby,the patron's location.

The features and advantages described in this summary and the followingdetailed description are not all-inclusive, and particularly, manyadditional features and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinaryskill in the art in view of the drawings, specification, and claimshereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a system in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an interaction diagram of an exemplary operation of the systemof FIG. 1 for servicing a typical event.

FIG. 3 is a system diagram of a system in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention.

The figures depict a preferred embodiment of the present invention forpurposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readilyrecognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments ofthe structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed withoutdeparting from the principles of the invention described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a system diagram of a system inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention. This system 100operates typically on the premises of a casino or other entertainmentfacility in which there are a large number of gaming machines 120. In acasino environment, there is provided a slot management system (SMS)102, a decisioning system 104, a casino management system (CMS) 108, anda communication system 106. A patron database (PDB) 114 may be usedinstead of CMS 108. In non-casino environments, equivalent functionalityof these systems, as further described below, may be provided throughequivalent hardware or software systems. In the illustrated embodiment,the decisioning system 104 is a rules-based decisioning system (RBDS),and the system is described hereafter with respect to this particularimplementation, though it should be understood that the invention is notlimited to this particular type of decisioning system.

Generally, events are generated at service locations and forwarded tothe decisioning system 104 for scheduling of service attendants. In theillustrated embodiment of FIG. 1, the service locations are the gamingmachines 120. The events are communicated to the SMS, which in turnforwards messages of these events to the RBDS 104. The RBDS 104schedules the events for service and selects a service attendant forservicing the event, by applying rules relative to the type of serviceevent, the service event time, floor business levels, the player'sstatus or value, and any other attributes useful for scheduling. TheRBDS 104 obtains the player related information from the CMS 108. Inthis disclosure, “value” and “status” are equivalents. On scheduling anevent for service by a service attendant 124, the RBDS 104 transmits theservice information to the selected attendant 124, such information toinclude gaming machine number, location, type of service, customer valuetier, and event time to the paging system 106. In this embodiment, thecustomer value tier is data descriptive of a customer's status.

The communication system 106 transmits messages to a plurality ofmessage receivers 126. In the illustrated embodiment, the communicationsystem is a paging system and the message receivers are pagers; thesystem is described hereafter with respect to this particularimplementation. The paging system 106 communicates with the pagers 126,held by service attendants 124 (and their supervisors). The serviceattendants 124 accept or decline the page, and where accepted, providethe service to the indicated player and gaming machine. Where a serviceis declined, the RBDS selects another service attendant 124 to servicethe event. If all of the service attendants 124 within a specifiedservice area decline to service the event, the RBDS 104, usinggeographical travel data within its rules, determines which serviceattendants 124 from which other service areas to page. In someinstances, when the service attendants 124 within a specified area arebusy and all other service attendants 124 identified by the RBDS 104within its travel rules are likewise busy, events may be escalated bypaging a supervisor, e.g. where the event has not been serviced in acertain amount of time. The service attendants 124 provide service tothe players 122 as indicated by the page.

An optional monitoring terminal 109 is used to monitor the status ofevents and their scheduling for service by the supervisor 124.

The gaming machines 120 include generally any kind of gaming machine ofinterest, such as slot machines, video poker machines, keno machines,and so forth. The gaming machines are played by players 122. Each gamingmachine 120 includes a card reader for reading a player identificationcard, such as may be issued by the casino as part of an affinity programor by an operator of the facility containing the gaming machines. Theuse of card readers with gaming machines is well known in the art, andthoroughly described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,361, which isincorporated by reference herein. The use of player identification cardsfor tracking player betting is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,647,which is also incorporated by reference herein.

The gaming machines 120 are coupled over a communications network 103(e.g. an Ethernet network) to the SMS 102 and communicate gaming eventsoccurring at the machines 120 to the SMS, 102 for further processing.Where the gaming machines are slot machines or the like, they include amain processing unit (MPU) (not shown) and a communication device 123.In one embodiment, the communication device is a slot machine interfaceboard (SMIB), also known as a slot interface board (SNI). The MPU isresponsible for the gaming machine's operation, and contains the logicand mathematical formulas that allow the game to function. The MPUcommunicates game events to the SMIB 123, which in turn relaysinformation up to the SMS where it is stored, tracked, and reported on.The SMIBs may be connected to the SMS via a wiring network of twistedpair cabling, and operating using a conventional network operatingsystem. The communicated events also include card-related eventsoccurring at the card reader, such as a card-in event. Typically, theMPU is proprietary to each gaming machine manufacturer, while the SMIBand SMS are proprietary to the SMS developer. Suitable SMS 's includethe SLOT DATA SYSTEM provided by Bally Gaming & Systems of Las Vegas,Nev., or the GSI ON-LINE SLOT SYSTEM provided by Gaming SystemsInternational, also of Las Vegas. The details of coupling the gamingmachines 120 to the SMS 102 are known to those of skill in the art, andprovided by the developers of the selected SMS. U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,361,incorporated above, also describes the details of one SMS.

Given the various types of gaming machines, there are numerous differentpossible gaming machine events. Accordingly, depending on the systemdeveloper, various different types of gaming machine events may beselected for servicing by the system, and the present invention does notlimit the types of events that may be selected for servicing. In oneembodiment, the gaming machine events of interest include jackpot,hopper coin outage, coin-out, coin-in and bill accepter jams. Other,fewer, or additional events may be selected for inclusion in aparticular installation. When an event occurs (both those included forservicing and those that are not serviced), the MPU notifies the SMIBthat an event has taken place. The SMIB in turn sends the SMS 102 amessage containing the appropriate information descriptive of the event.The content of message will depend on the particular SMS in use, butgenerally event messages include fields such as:

-   -   Message Type    -   Transaction Code    -   Player Identification Card Number (from player identification        card, if available)    -   Gaming machine Number    -   Gaming machine Stand (location) Number    -   Denomination    -   Theoretical Hold %    -   Date    -   Time    -   Coins Bet    -   Coins Won    -   Games Played    -   Jackpot Amount    -   Bonus Points    -   Message ID    -   Type Code; and    -   Game Type.

These fields may substantially be the same type of data components thatany SMS may send, though the particular fields in message may becustomized as desired by the SMS provider. For example, some SMS's use aSide ID to identify a redundant server that is currently active forreceiving message; also some SMS's use sequential message IDs in orderto track messages and identify missing messages.

It is preferable for the message to contain at least the gaming machineID and location, and message type; this would at least allowprioritization of gaming machine events by their type. It is furtherpreferable to include player card number, as this further allowsidentification of the player; hence permitting prioritization based onthe player's value. Note that inclusion of the player card number isoptional, and preferably used if available, as some players may not haveID cards (e.g., players who have not signed up for such a card). In thatevent, the field is either not included or left empty. It is alsofurther preferable that for Jackpot Messages, the Jackpot Amount beincluded as this will allow the service attendant to determine whetherInternal Revenue Service required forms will be needed in the processingof this transaction.

As the SMS 102 receives messages from the gaming machines, it stores themessages in its transaction file. In a typical installation, the SMSalso sends a notification message to a set of predetermined terminals.These terminals, such as the ones used with the Bally Gaming & Systems'SMS—commonly referred to as Change Booth Terminals (CBs)—can be dumbterminals, desktop computers, or any other type of system, such as apaging system. This process is repeated for every type of gaming machineevent being tracked.

For example, assume that a slot machine hits a hand-paid jackpot. Eachslot machine is set to dispense limited number of coins into the tray,and once that limit has been reached, the slot machine ceases todispense coins and enters into a hand-pay lockout mode. The balance ofthe jackpot is then hand paid by a service attendant. Here then, the MPUnotifies the SMIB that this event has taken place. The SMIB then sends amessage indicating the message type, jackpot amount, machine ID andlocation, and so forth, to the SMS. The SMS records this message andnotifies the coupled CB's.

The SMS 102 is further coupled over the network 103 to the RBDS 104. Inone embodiment, the RBDS acts as a CB terminal, and mimics its interfaceto the SMS, so that the SMS sends messages to it as if it were anotherCB terminal. The RBDS operates with two databases, an events database110 and a rules database 112. The events database 110 maintainsinformation pertaining to game events generated by the gaming machines120 and the servicing of the events by service attendants. The rulesdatabase 112 maintains a set of rules that the RBDS uses to prioritizeevents and select those for servicing. The RBDS 104 parses each receivedmessage from the SMS, and extracts the time, event type, playeridentification number, machine ID and location, and other data asappropriate (e.g., jackpot amounts for a jackpot event). Thisinformation is stored as a new event record in the events database 110to be prioritized for servicing. The RBDS executes software productswhich provide the functional and structural features described herein.The RBDS may operate on a conventional computer system, such as a serverclass computer, with suitable memory, CPU and network connectivity tosupport a large scale casino operation. A suitable RBDS is the DecisionCenter provided by Perceptum, Inc. of Bridgewater, N.J.

In one embodiment, the events database 110 is a relational databasecomprising a number of tables, the primary ones including:

-   -   A Pagers table has a list of all the available pager numbers of        the service attendants 124, the service attendant carrying the        pager and the casino floor section in which he/she is working        in. Each pager is also defined as a service attendant pager or        supervisor pager to facilitate escalation paging.    -   An Events table stores open and in-progress service events that        are being tracked. As events are completed the data is written        as new records in a History table.    -   The History table stores events that have been serviced and are        no longer pending.

The particular fields of the Events table may be defined by the systemsdeveloper as desired. In one embodiment, the Events table has columnscorresponding to some of the extracted data from the SMS message, alongwith other columns that are calculated or updated on an ongoing basis:

-   -   Service Event Type (identifies the type of service required by a        particular machine at a particular time).    -   Player Identification Card No.    -   Gaming machine Stand (location) Number.    -   Jackpot Amount (if any).    -   Outage Time=time of service event as reported by the SMS.    -   Age Time=time the service event was pending before being        scheduled for service. The RBDS waits until the Age time reaches        a threshold before scheduling.    -   Assigned Time=time the service event was accepted by a service        attendant via the pager 126.    -   Appear Time=time of the service attendant's card-in at the        player's gaming machine as reported by SMS.    -   Completion Time=time a Back In Service message is generated by        the gaming machine as reported by SMS and/or time the attendant        sent the completed message via the pager 126.    -   Response Time=(Appear Time−Outage Time)=length of time a player        waited before an attendant appeared to provide them service.    -   Work Time=(Completion Time−Appear Time)=length of time an        attendant worked to provide the service needed.    -   Transaction Time=(Completion Time−Outage Time)=length of time a        player waited before the service needed was completed.

The History table also includes these fields.

As can be appreciated, messages from the SMS arrive at the RBDSasynchronously, and thus the RBDS asynchronously updates the Eventstable with new events. As each event is received, then for each eventthe RBDS establishes a timer to track the Age time of the event. In oneembodiment, the Age time is used to defer scheduling until a certainamount of time has passed. In another embodiment, the RIBDS immediatelyschedules the event according to the rules in the database. In oneembodiment, the RBDS includes a time tracking module that manages thetime capture and timers for each of the events. When the RBDS receives amessage it triggers the time tracking module to capture the appropriatetime (e.g. Age time or Completion time) and timers. The RBDS also tracksfor each event a Service Elapsed Time, which equals (Current Time—AppearTime).

A separate module of the RBDS prioritizes the events for servicing usingthe rules database 112.

In one embodiment, the RBDS includes a relational database with a numberof real-time processes. These processes are constantly running,returning data, which is then in turn evaluated by other processes. Inthis way, the RBDS knows what events are aging, what events need to bepaged, what events need escalation and what events have been completedand need archiving. As a new event message comes into the RBDS, aprimary process is triggered that evaluates the new event in light ofall of the other events it is currently tracking. The system applies therules to the event to create a key which it then uses to prioritize theevent along with all of the other events. In addition, as each event islogged, a timing process is assigned to it. The process is given a timealarm and is told to wake up once a specific value has been reached. Ifthe system can move the event from one state to another (e.g., aging topaged, or paged to pending, or pending to completed), the old alarm isreplaced by a new one. In this way, the live processes are monitoringevents, while each specific event also has its own timer which whentriggered cause specific actions to be taken.

The RBDS 104 is coupled over the network 103 to a casino managementsystem (CMS) 108. The CMS maintains a database of customer information,in particular information used to determine a customer's status or valueto the casino. In another embodiment, the RBDS 104 is coupled over thenetwork to the PDB 114. The PDB 114 stores patron play, theoreticalvalue, promotional offers, and other patron specific data for individualproperties and the company as a whole. More specifically, the PDB 114stores information pertaining to each customer derived from thecustomer's gaming activity at multiple casino properties. The RBDSqueries the CMS 108 or PDB 114, using the extracted playeridentification number to obtain information about the player's value.This information is also stored with the event record. An example of aCMS 108 is further described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,647; a descriptionof a PDB 114 is found in U.S. Ser. No. 08/680,208, filed on Jul. 11,1996, which is incorporated by reference herein.

For example, the CMS or PDB may store for each customer informationpertaining to the customer's average betting patterns, amounts, wins,loses, and so forth, and optionally information pertaining to each oftheir trips to the casino's properties. In one embodiment, each customeraccount includes a calculated theoretical win, which is an estimate,based on the customer's historical betting activities, of revenue thecasino expects to generate from the customer. The player's value (e.g.as expressed by theoretical win) may be based on gaming at an individualcasino property, or from gaming at multiple casino properties, asdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,647. This betting data or other data(e.g., membership in various affinity programs) is used by the casino asit desires to categorize each customer as to their value to the casino.

For example, players may be categorized into tiers, such as a four-tiersystem with premium, preferred, select, and unrated/unknown players.Players who are not listed in the CMS or who do not present an ID cardare deemed unrated. More tiers may also be used. The number of tiers,the data on which the tier classification is based, and the calculationof value to segregate players into tiers is entirely within thediscretion of the system operator and not limited by the invention.

The RBDS also includes a rules database 112 that stores the rules usedto prioritize events in the Events table for servicing. The selection ofwhich rules to use is entirely within the discretion of the casino andsystem developer, as selected to meet whatever is determined to be theirpreferred policies for servicing players. Thus, the specific rules usedare not limited by the present invention.

In one embodiment, there are 3 tiers of players, Diamond, Platinum, andGold (from highest to lowest respectively; the names of the tiers areobviously arbitrary). Membership in a tier is based on a player's value,such as their theoretical win profile. In this embodiment, and by way ofexample only, the following rules can be used in various combinations toschedule events for service:

-   -   1. Diamond Tier customers are the first service priority.    -   2. Platinum Tier customers are treated like Diamond tier and        also have first service priority.    -   3. New card customers are treated like Diamond and Platinum tier        customers and also have first service priority. A new card        customer is one whose player identification card was issued        within the last thirty (30) days. The RBDS 102 can query the CMS        or PDB to determine if a player's card has been issued in the        last 30 days (based on a stored card issue date).    -   4. “No Card” customers are treated like Diamond and Platinum        tier customers and also have first service priority. This allows        the casino to provide a high level of service to a customer, and        thereby increase the likelihood of the customer becoming a loyal        patron. Conventionally, no card customers typically receive the        lowest level of service.    -   5. Gold Tier customers have the least service priority.    -   6. Generate a page to a service attendant if:        -   A Diamond or Platinum tier, New Card or No Card customer has            waited for longer than 2 minutes (Age Time).        -   A Gold tier customer has waited for longer than 5 minutes            (Age Time).    -   7. The maximum Age time for any tier or customer is 7 minutes.        If a customer service event has aged for longer than 7 minutes,        that service event will be given top priority immaterial of what        tier the customer belongs to, or whether they have a card or        not. This top priority is higher than Diamond level and places        the event at the front of the event queue.    -   8. If an event has aged 7 minutes and has not been accepted by a        service provider, then generate an escalation page to a        specified pager(s). If a monitoring terminal 109 is used, then        alter the display characteristic (e.g., Red) of those service        events.    -   9. If the service event is not completed within 8 minutes        (Service Elapsed Time>8 minutes), then generate an escalation        page to a specified pager(s). If a monitoring terminal 109 is        used, then alter the display characteristic (e.g., Red) of those        service events. The 8 minute time limit is known here as a        Service Duration Limit. In an alternate embodiment of the        system, this Service Duration Limit may be dependant on the        service type, and certainly may vary in amount of time. In this        way, the Service Duration Limit for a specific event may be set        differently than that of another.    -   10. Until a service event has been aged to 7 minutes (Rules 8        and 9), its priority is determined by Rules 1-6.    -   11. Hopper Can't Pay events have a first service priority.    -   12. Coin In Jams have a second service priority.    -   13. Jackpots have a third service priority.    -   14. All other events have a lowest priority.

First, note that rules 1-5 are used to prioritize based on player value.Rule 6 prioritizes based on a combination of player value and time,thereby allowing for very precise management of service levels, anddifferentiation of service to players based on their value. Rules 7-8are based on the time taken to service an event. Rules 11-14 prioritizeevents based on their type.

It should also be noted that the particular time limits in these rulesare merely exemplary. The time limits may be altered to obtain differentservice policies. Further, they may be automatically (or manually)modified during operation if there are more or fewer service attendantson duty to service the events (i.e. more attendants available may beused to reduce the time periods, and fewer attendants may be used toincrease the time periods).

By way of example with these rules, Diamond, Platinum, New Card Holders,and No Card Holders will not wait longer than 2 minutes before beingscheduled. The longest one of these customers will wait for service tobe completed is about 17 minutes:2 minutes [original aging time]+7 minutes [time the system used upcontinuously trying to schedule this service with service attendants]+8minutes [time it should take to complete service]+minimal travel time.

This is a worst case scenario where the RBDS cycled through all of theappropriate and available service attendants, had them all rejectservice, and then escalates a page to a supervisor. If the RBDSdetermines that each of the appropriate service attendants were alreadymarked as busy, it can escalate the page to the supervisory levelimmediately.

In addition, multiple different rules sets may be available to be useddepending on the particular conditions in the casino. For example,different rule sets may be used on weekends, holidays or other periodsor events when more players are in the casino and more serviceattendants are on duty. The RBDS may be configured to automaticallyselect the appropriate rule set for the given day of week, holiday orevent. Alternatively, the RBDS may automatically select rules or adjustthe time limits based on staff level. In yet another alternateembodiment, since the RBDS is in communication with the CMS it candetermine the total number of player identification cards currentlyactive in the casino, and use this value to set the time limits in therules or to select rule sets. Also, more, fewer, and certainly differentrules may be used. For example, if the system determines that allservice events are being responded to and completed within the eightminute parameter, and that a number of service attendants are availablefor service requests, the system may automatically turn off the aging inRule 9 and immediately schedule and page all service requests whilestill adhering to the priority rules 1 and 2.

The system will continuously try to schedule a service event so as longas there are available service attendants and as long as they areaccepting assignments, and thus the RBDS will not be forced to age anyevent. However, the moment the RBDS determines that there are moreservice events than service attendants available, it will engage thescheduling rules.

As noted above, the RBDS may be coupled to a monitoring terminal 109,which may be disposed in a supervisor's office, the cashier's cage, orin any convenient location. This terminal allows a supervisor to monitorthe status of the system and visually identify service events that arein need of immediate servicing. The monitoring terminal is used todisplay, page, and track both non-responded to (Open) and responded tobut not completed (In Progress), service events. Preferably, themonitoring terminal includes a touch-screen monitor so that a user mayimmediately cause the system to immediately select an event forservicing by touching the listed event on the monitor. For each openservice event, the monitoring terminal displays the Age Time, so as tolet the supervisor know how long each event has been pending withoutbeing accepted. As per Rule 7, if an event has aged more than 7 minutes,then its display characteristics are altered (e.g. displayed in red) toalert the supervisor. For each in-progress service event, the monitoringterminal displays the Age Time and Appear Time.

The RBDS also provides a variety of data capturing and reportingfeatures that assist in determining overall system performance and theperformance of the service attendants in servicing the players. Usinginformation from the Events and History tables, the RBDS can generatereports on the number of transactions by type (Jackpot including CreditMeter Pay Out, Coin-Out and Coin-in Jams, Bill Acceptor Jams or HopperCoin Outages) that are being completed. Also, the RBDS can store,report, and display if the monitoring terminal 109 is utilized, inreal-time the average Response, Work, and Transaction time of eachService Type for each customer tier, on the touch-screen. This data willallow the service providers to proactively establish the serviceexpectation by informing the patron how much time it is currently takingto complete the specific service transaction. This is especiallyimportant if the service transaction requires interaction from multipledepartments. The RBDS also can capture, store and report on the numberof transactions completed by type, by service attendant and the servicetime it took to complete (Appear Time, Work Time and Completion Time).The RBDS also can report on service events responded to, or completedprior to, being either paged or displayed on the monitoring terminal.

Using the rules listed in the rules database 112, the RBDS applies therules to the Events table, to prioritize the events therein and select ahighest priority event for servicing. The RBDS further selects anavailable service attendant to service the event.

In a preferred embodiment, the casino floor is divided into a number ofareas, each having a location or zone number; these locations correspondto the gaming machine location numbers used in the SMS message. The RBDSprioritizes events generated in each area separately. For each area, theRBDS selects only service attendants who are assigned to service thearea. In selecting a service attendant to service an event, the RBDSattempts to locate an available service attendant, first from theevent's location (as indicated by the gaming machine location code) andthen from contiguous locations, without exceeding a distance rule whichlimits the selection to a selected number of other areas of the casinofloor. A distance rule, for example, may specify that in a casino withsix service areas, events in service area 1 may only be assigned toattendants in areas 1, 2, and 3, while attendants in areas 4-6 arephysically too far away to respond within a timely manner. For example,if the RBDS is unable to locate an available service attendant within anevent's service area, it will seek an available service attendant withinthe rules-specified contiguous areas. If an available attendant isfound, the RBDS assigns the event to that attendant, immaterial of howmany events may be pending in the area for which the service provider ismainly responsible.

In most installations, the selection of service attendants from outsidean event service area will only occur when one area is slow whileanother is much busier. If this volume trend is observed over time, thenstaffing levels for the various areas can be adjusted so that moreservice attendants are assigned to the historically busier area. Thistype of information, along with the various reports on average responsetime and the like, enable the system to be used to monitor and controlstaffing levels and assignments for the service attendants, furtherenhancing customer service.

The RBDS is preferably coupled to a two-way paging system 106. Theconnection may be via TCP/IP over a network or a serial datacommunication through a dedicated high-speed modem. One suitable pagingsystem is available through Arch Communications Inc., of Westborough,Mass. Another two-way paging system and apparatus suitable for use onthe casino floor is manufactured by Glenayre Electronics Inc, ofCharlotte, N.C. Systems utilizing the Motorola ReFlex Confirmed MessageDelivery system are desirable in order to further enhance thereliability of the system. Such systems are capable of automaticallyre-transmitting messages that, due to interference, were not fullydelivered to the appropriate paging device. In one embodiment, thepaging system 106 is based on the Efficient Mail Submission & Delivery(EMSD), an Internet messaging protocol highly optimized for shortmessages. EMSD is an extension of the existing Internet emailenvironment that accommodates two-way paging model of usage. Using EMSD,urgent messages are promptly “pushed” to the recipient in a highlyefficient manner. The EMSD specifications are open and have beenpublished as Internet RFC-2188 and RFC-2524.

When the RBDS selects an event for servicing and a service attendant,the RBDS determines from the Pagers table the pager number of theservice attendant. The RBDS constructs, using templates or scripts, atext page to the service attendant, identifying the gaming machinelocation, type of event, customer tier and other information useful forservicing the event. For example, a page for a Jackpot event may read“AA-15 JP 2000 D 10.” This informs the service attendant to go to slotmachine location AA-15 and to payout a $2,000 jackpot (JP) to a DiamondTier (D) customer and that the average service completion time for thistype of event is currently 10 minutes. Of course, any coding scheme maybe used as desired by the system designer to convey information to theservice attendants.

The RBDS transmits the page to the paging system, which in turn pagesthe service attendant. The service attendant's pager 126 will vibrate toindicate that a page has been delivered. The service attendant can thenaccept or decline the page. To do so, the service attendant will use theappropriate function keys on the papers to locate the response desiredand transmit the response, such as the pager's up and down scrollingbutton, and send button. If the page is accepted, the RBDS records theAccept time and marks the service attendant as “busy”; if the page isdeclined, then the RBDS selects another available service attendant (orsupervisor) and transmits a page to that person to service the event. Inthis fashion, the system ensures that a player's service need isaccepted on a timely basis instead of being left to wait at the mercy ofwhich service attendant happens to volunteer to service the player.

When the assigned attendant arrives at the gaming machine, she inserts aservice attendant identification card into the card reader. The SMIBtransmits a card-in event to the SMS, which forwards the message to theRBDS; the RBDS records the Appear time, and begins tracking the currentworking time (per Rule 8) using a Work Timer. If necessary the RBDS willescalate a page to a supervisor if the work time exceeds the allottedtime period. When the service is completed, the service attendantremoves her card from the card reader, which is reported to the RBDS asa Back In Service message; the RBDS interprets this as Work Completedmessage. The RBDS then records the Completion time, and moves the eventto the History table. The RBDS updates the current statistics of averageResponse and Transaction times so as to keep the supervisory staffapprised of overall service performance, and marks the service attendantas “available.”

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown an exemplary event trace of thesequence of actions for servicing a Jackpot service event; the actionsfor other types of events are similar. If a step requires logic andsupports two decisions, the positive decision is addressed first and thenegative decision is shown indented.

-   1. Customer hits jackpot at gaming machine.-   2. The gaming machine sends jackpot a (JP) message to the SMS,    indicating the gaming machine stand location, jackpot amount, player    identification number, event time and other data, for example, as    indicated above.-   3. The gaming machine locks-up, lights flash, and music plays    (optional).-   4. The SMS sends the JP message to the RBDS.-   5. The RBDS recognizes the JP message, and culls out gaming machine    stand location, player identification number, jackpot amount, and    event time, and updates the Events table with new event.-   6. The RBDS establishes Aging timer to start aging the event based    on the Outage time.-   7. The RBDS accesses the CMS, providing the player identification    number from the player's ID card. The CMS uses the player    identification number to lookup or calculate the player's status    (e.g. value, level, or tier), and reports this back to the RBDS.-   8. The RBDS uses the rules in the rules database 112 to determine    the maximum Age Time for this event based on the information    returned from the CMS.-   9. When the Aging time reaches the maximum threshold amount, based    upon the rules defined, the RBDS will decide whether to immediately    page a service attendant to service this event or age it further. In    this way, a maximum aging time can be established for each event    type and each customer tier. If the event has reached its maximum    aging time, RBDS selects the next available attendant assigned to    service the gaming machine's area. To do this, the RBDS uses the    Pagers table, and identifies the first attendant marked as AVAILABLE    assigned to service the gaming machine's area. If no attendant in    the area is available, the RBDS selects an AVAILABLE attendant in an    adjacent area. If no service attendants are available, the event    will be escalated and supervisory level staff paged. The RBDS    obtains the pager number for the selected attendant or staff.-   10. The RBDS sends the pager number and message to the two-way    paging system 106.-   11. The paging system transmits a page to the service attendant's    pager 126.-   12. The pager 126 receives the page and displays message.-   13. The service attendant selects “Accept” message on the two-way    pager 126 and presses “Enter.” A response is sent to the paging    system. (Goto 16)    -   14. The service attendant selects the “Decline” message on        two-way pager 126 and presses “Enter.”    -   15. The paging system receives the “Decline” message and        forwards it to the RBDS. (Goto 9)-   16. The paging system receives the “Accept” message and forwards it    to the RBDS.-   17. The RBDS captures the Assigned Time for the event and updates    the event record in the Events table.-   18. The RBDS marks the service attendant as BUSY in the Pagers    table.-   19. The service attendant goes to gaming machine location as    specified in the pager message.-   20. Service attendant inserts a service attendant identification    card into the card reader of the gaming machine.-   21. The gaming machine sends Card In message to the SMS.-   22. The SMS sends a Card In message to the RBDS.-   23. The RBDS captures the Appear Time for the event and updates the    event record in the Events table. In some embodiment, the SMS may    not generate a Card In message as a valid response to certain    events. In these instances, the service attendant uses a keypad on    the gaming machine (a typical peripheral device; see U.S. Pat. No.    5,429,361 as an example) to enter a code that will generate a    message alerting the RBDS that he/she has arrived at the service    location.-   24. The RBDS begins a timer for tracking the Service Elapsed Time    for the event.-   25. The RBDS continually checks to see if the Service Elapsed Time    has exceeded the Service Duration Limit for servicing the player,    for example, the 8 minutes defined in Rule 8.    -   26. The RBDS determines that the Service Duration Limit has been        exceeded.    -   27. The RBDS identifies from the Pager table the supervisor        operating in the service area and selects appropriate pager        number.    -   28. The RBDS generates “Service Alert” message to the        supervisor, identifying the machine location, event type, and        other data as before, and sends message and pager number to        paging system.    -   29. Paging system transmits page to the supervisor.-   30. The service attendant completes the service required at the    gaming machine. The gaming machine sends a “Back In Service” message    to the SMS, which forwards it to the RBDS. In some embodiments, the    gaming machine may not generate a “Back In Service” message as a    valid response to the completion of the required service without    certain additional non-related events occurring. (Typically gaming    machines do not generate a “Back In Service” message until the    gaming machine is played again. In the case of Hopper Fills or a    type of Jackpot known as a Credit Meter Pay Out, the customer, once    service is completed, does not continue to play the same machine. In    cases such as this, the “Back In Service,” when generated as a    result of the gaming machine being played, will not accurately    reflect the true time it took to complete service.) In these    instances, the service attendant uses a keypad on the gaming machine    (a typical peripheral device; see U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,361 as an    example) to enter a code that will generate a “Back In Service”    message alerting the RBDS that he/she has completed the service.-   31. The service attendant selects “Done” message from pager and    presses “Enter.”-   32. The paging system receives “Done” message and forwards it to    RBDS.-   33. The RBDS triggers the time tracking module to capture the    Completed Time.-   34. The RBDS moves the now complete event from the Events table to    the History table.-   35. The RBDS marks the service attendant as AVAILABLE in the Pagers    table.

As can be seen from the foregoing, the decisioning system 104 providesan efficient mechanism for scheduling and prioritizing the service ofgaming machine events in a manner to provide differentiated levels ofservice to players based on their value to the casino. The decisioningsystem, particularly the rules of the RBDS, can be customized by thecasino to provide higher value players with higher levels of customerservice, such as faster service response times than lower value players.Even so, the rules can ensure that lower value players are still treatedto a basic level of customer service so as to ensure their customersatisfaction as well.

The system may be used in other than casino environments; it may be usedin any environment where it is desirable to provide differentiatedlevels of service to customers, particularly based on each customer'svalue to the business. For example, the system may be readily extendedto the hotel environment to provide varying service levels to patronsbased on their value to the hotel.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of such a system. Here, hotel patronsprovide requests or messages to the RBDS 104 indicating the type ofservice they need. To forward such requests, the patrons may use any ofvariety of different communication devices, such as telephones 320,terminals 321, computers 322, call buttons, or the like. These variousdevices are coupled over the appropriate network a server 331, whichfurther is coupled to the decisioning system 104. For example, atelephone 320 interfaces with the decisioning system 104 through a voiceresponse unit (not shown) that provides a menu driven interface to allowguests to key in selections of services. A call button may be placed ina hotel room, or on a gaming machine (e.g., where it may be used torequest a service attendant for food, beverage, or change service). Theterminal or computer connects to the server 331 over a suitable networkconfiguration (e.g. a browser, HTTP server, TCP/IP protocol, Ethernetnetwork). The patron's value may determined from historical informationabout the patron's spending at the hotel (as may be stored in anddetermined from a customer database 330), for example to provide anestimate of the expected spending of patron during the current stay, ormerely a categorization of the patron's overall status. Alternatively,the value of the patron may be based on proxies, such as by the type ofguest room, room rate, room location, number of persons in a party,denomination of the gaming machine the patron is playing at, or othersimilar factors correlated with measures of customer value, which may beaccessed by the decisioning system 104 from the lodging managementsystem 328, a system which tracks rooms, rates, reservations, and otherlodging functions. Hotel service attendants 324 (e.g. housekeeping, roomservice, valet, slot hostesses, beverage hostesses, etc.) would bescheduled for service based on this value metric and other factors, suchas location of the patron's room to determine nearby or availableattendants.

This type of embodiment is further possible in environments such as oncruise ships, amusement parks, restaurants, and so forth. The system asdisclosed herein is most easily adapted to environments in which patronscan be individually located and individually identified. The individuallocation is desirable in order to direct a service attendant to thepatron. The individual location is most easily inferred from the knownlocation of the communication device that forwards the event/requestinformation to the decisioning system. Thus, in the casino environment,the identity and location of each gaming machine is known. In the hotelor similar environment, the location and identity of each communicationdevice is also known (i.e., which room, table, cabin, facility thedevice is in). The individual identification is desirable in order todetermine the patron's value or some substitute measure thereof, asvariously explained above. In some applications, these two aspects maybe determined by a single factor, such as in the hotel environment wherethe location of the communication device in a particular room determinesboth the location of the patron and a measure of the patron's value(e.g., room type or rate of that room). While its further desirable todetermine ahead of time the type of service needed-and thereby allowrules to be implemented for scheduling based on service type-this is notnecessary. In these types of embodiments, events are communicated fromthe service locations to the decisioning system by various communicationdevices, such as by a telephone, computer terminal, call button, orother communication mechanism. For example, a call button or an LCDpanel with a touchscreen, or other means may be provided to patrons tosignal the need for service. Thus, the present invention is not limitedto the particular types of locations or mechanisms that may be used togenerate service event information.

As will be understood by those familiar with the art, the invention maybe embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit oressential characteristics thereof. For example, the particular rulesused by the decisioning system may be varied considerably as desired bythe system operator to effect different service policies. As noted,fewer, greater, or other rules may be used. Fewer or greater customertiers may be employed. Any variety of different timing rules may bedefined to establish multiple levels of service. Pages can be providedto tertiary service attendants if the secondary service attendantdeclines. Pages may be escalated to supervisors for other conditions,including overall service conditions based on aggregate performancecriteria (e.g. average service times during the past hour). Further,while a rule based decisioning system is most desirable (as it allowsdiscrete definition of service policies, times, and tiers), otherequivalent decisioning systems may be employed to the extent that theycan be adapted to learn externally defined service policies and applyingthose policies to asynchronously received events in order to schedulesuch events for service.

Other changes may be made to the communication system. First, while atwo-way paging system is desirable communication system, a one-waypaging system may be used; this configuration still allows thedecisioning system to schedule service attendants based on factors suchas the patron's value. In this case, the decisioning system may beconfigured to use other information to schedule a secondary serviceattendant or escalate a page to a supervisor. For example, instead ofrelying upon an accept or decline message from the pagers, thedecisioning system may instead use other messages as indicatingacceptance of the service event. For example, in the casino environment,the decisioning system may accept the Card In message (see step 22above) as indicative of acceptance of the service, since the messageindicates the particular service attendant is at the machine to beserviced. In other embodiments, the acceptance message may be sent bythe service attendant from the communication device at the patron'slocation. The various rules are then modified to allow a sufficientamount of time for a service attendant to travel to the patron'slocation, whether gaming machine, hotel room, cabin, or the like. If themessage indicative of acceptance (e.g. the Card In message) is notreceived in such a time period, then a secondary service attendant canbe paged or the page escalated to a supervisor. Again, other rules maybe employed to develop a useful service policy for servicing events inlight of different information available in a one-way paging system.

If two-way communication is desired, the paging system may be replacedby any two-way communications system, including but not limited to radiosystems, cellular systems or the like. The pagers likewise may be simpletwo-way pagers, or more sophisticated devices such as cellular devices(e.g., Nokia 9110i Communicator™; Motorola Timeport™ P930 Two-WayPager), or personal digital assistants (e.g., 3Com's Palm™ computer;Handspring Inc.'s Visor™ computer).

The SMS is a particular system used in casinos to communicate withcasino gaming machines. Accordingly, in order environments where gamingmachines are not the source of service events, other suchevent-reception systems may be employed, the details of which aredependent on the application environment. Generally, the SMS may bereplaced by a server that receives messages (preferably asynchronously)from the service locations, and routes them to a decisioning system.Those of skill in the art can readily identify and adapt the mostappropriate system for such a function given the applicationrequirements and environment.

Likewise, the particular naming of the features, attributes, datastructures, service events, tables, rules or any other programming orstructural aspect is not mandatory or significant, and the mechanismsthat implement the invention or its features may have different names,formats, or protocols. Further, the system may be implemented via acombination of hardware and software, as described, or entirely inhardware elements. Also, the particular division of functionalitybetween the various system components described herein is merelyexemplary, and not mandatory; functions performed by a single systemcomponent may instead be performed by multiple components, and functionsperformed by multiple components may instead performed by a singlecomponent.

Finally, it should be noted that the language used in the specificationhas been principally selected for readability and instructionalpurposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribethe inventive subject matter. Accordingly, the disclosure of the presentinvention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scopeof the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

1. A system for providing service to customers in a businessestablishment, the system comprising: a plurality of service locationsphysically located in a business establishment, each service locationincluding a communication device adapted to communicate one or moreevents pertaining to a service event for a customer who is physicallylocated at the service location in the business establishment, whereinthe service locations comprise gaming machines, and the communicationdevices of the gaming machines are adapted to communicate game events toa gaming machine management system; a decisioning system communicativelycoupled to the communication devices to receive the events, thedecisioning system configured to schedule a primary service attendantfrom a plurality of service attendants for servicing each eventaccording to at least a value of the customer at the service locationthat generated the event, wherein the value of the customer comprises adynamic theoretical win profile that is based at least in part on anestimate of the business establishment's expected revenue per timeperiod based on the customer's historical gaming activity; acommunication system communicatively coupled to the decisioning systemto transmit a message to the primary service attendant selected for anevent, the message indicating a physical location in the businessestablishment, corresponding to the service location at which the eventis to be serviced and to which the primary service attendant is totravel to service the service event; and a plurality of messagereceivers for use by the service attendants, including the primaryservice attendant, each message receiver configured to receive messagesfrom the communication system and display the received messages to aservice attendant.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the customer valueis based on a room rate of a room occupied by the customer.
 3. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the customer value is based on a room type ofa room occupied by the customer.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein thecustomer value is based on a number of persons in a party associatedwith the customer.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the decisioningsystem uses a plurality of rules for scheduling the events for service.6. The system of claim 5, wherein the rules include: at least one rulefor scheduling events according to an age of the event.
 7. The system ofclaim 5, wherein the rules include: at least one rule for schedulingevents according to a type of event.
 8. The system of 5, wherein therules include: at least one rule for scheduling events according to alocation of the service location.
 9. The system of claim 5, wherein therules include: at least one rule for scheduling events according to acombination of an age of the event and a value of the customer.
 10. Thesystem of claim 5, wherein the rules include: at least one rule forselecting a service attendant for servicing an event based on a locationof the service location which generated the event and an assignedlocation of the service attendant.
 11. The system of claim 5, whereinthe rules include: at least one rule for messaging a supervisor of theprimary service attendant if the primary service attendant has notcompleted servicing the event in a certain amount of time.
 12. Thesystem of 5, wherein the rules include: at least one rule for schedulingevents according to an age of the event; at least one rule forscheduling events according to a type of event; at least one rule forscheduling events according to a location of the service location; andat least one rule for selecting a service attendant for servicing anevent based on a location of the service location which generated theevent and an assigned location of the service attendant.
 13. The systemof claim 1, wherein the gaming machines are slot machines, and thecommunication devices are interface boards that communicate slot eventsto the gaming machine management system.
 14. The system of claim 1,wherein the communication system is a two-way messaging system, wherebythe message receivers can transmit and receive messages.
 15. The systemof claim 14, wherein: the primary service attendant can accept ordecline to service an event using the two-way message receiver, andwherein: in response to the primary service attendant declining toservice an event, the decisioning system selects a secondary serviceattendant for servicing the event, and the messaging system transmits amessage to the secondary service attendant to service the event.
 16. Thesystem of claim 14, wherein: the primary service attendant can accept ordecline to service an event using the two-way message receiver, andwherein: in response to the primary service attendant accepting toservice an event, the decisioning system establishes the primary serviceattendant as being unavailable to service another event until theprimary service provider completes service of the accepted event. 17.The system of claim 1, wherein the decisioning system monitors the timetaken to service each event, and responsive to time taken to service anevent exceeding a threshold amount, the decisioning system selects anemployee to notify of the incomplete service, and instructs themessaging system to transmit a message to the selected employee.
 18. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising: a customer database,communicatively coupled to the decisioning system and containingcustomer records indicating for each customer a measure of thecustomer's value and the customer's identification number, thedecisioning system receiving from a service location a customeridentification number and querying the customer database with thereceived customer identification number to obtain the measure of thecustomer's value, the decisioning system scheduling the event forservice according to the obtained customer value.
 19. The system ofclaim 18, wherein each service location includes a customeridentification card reader, for reading a customer identification numberfrom a customer identification card.
 20. A system for providing serviceto customers in a business establishment, the system comprising: at eachof a plurality of service locations physically located in a businessestablishment, a communication means for communicating one or moreevents pertaining to a service event for a customer who is physicallylocated at the service location in the business establishment, whereinthe service locations comprise gaming machines, and the communicationmeans is adapted to communicate game events to a gaming machinemanagement system; a computer implemented decision making meanscommunicatively coupled to the plurality of communication means forreceiving the events, the decision making means for selecting a primaryservice attendant from a plurality of service attendants for servicingeach event according to at least a value of a customer to be servicedfor each event, wherein the value of a customer comprises a dynamictheoretical win profile that is based at least in part on an estimate ofthe business establishment's expected revenue per time period based onthe customer's historical gaming activity; a messaging meanscommunicatively coupled to the decision making means for transmitting amessage to the primary service attendant selected for servicing anevent, the message indicating a physical location in the businessestablishment, corresponding to the service location to which theselected primary service attendant is to travel to service the event;and a plurality of message receiving means for use by the serviceattendants, including the primary service attendant, each messagereceiving means for receiving messages from the messaging means and fordisplaying the received messages to a service attendant.
 21. The systemof claim 20, wherein the customer value is based on a room rate of aroom occupied by the customer.
 22. The system of claim 20, wherein thecustomer value is based on a room type of a room occupied by thecustomer.
 23. The system of claim 20, wherein the customer value isbased on a number of persons in a party associated with the customer.24. The system of claim 20, wherein the decision making means includes aplurality of rules for scheduling the events for service.
 25. The systemof claim 24, wherein the rules of the decision making means forscheduling events include: at least one rule for scheduling eventsaccording to an age of the event.
 26. The system of claim 24, whereinthe rules of the decision making means for scheduling events include: atleast one rule for scheduling events according to a type of event. 27.The system of claim 24, wherein the rules of the decision making meansfor scheduling events include: at least one rule for scheduling eventsaccording to a location of the service location.
 28. The system of claim24, wherein the rules of the decision making means for scheduling eventsinclude: at least one rule for scheduling events according to acombination of an age of the event and the value of the customer. 29.The system of claim 24, wherein the rules of the decision making meansfor scheduling events include: at least one rule for selecting a serviceattendant for servicing an event based on a location of the servicelocation which generated the event and an assigned location of theservice attendant.
 30. The system of claim 24, wherein the rules of thedecision making means for scheduling events include: at least one rulefor messaging a supervisor of the primary service attendant if theprimary service attendant has not completed servicing the event in acertain amount of time.
 31. The system of claim 24, wherein the rules ofthe decision making means for scheduling events include: at least onerule for scheduling events according to an age of the event; at leastone rule for scheduling events according to a type of event; at leastone rule for scheduling events according to a location of the servicelocation; and at least one rule for selecting a service attendant forservicing an event based on a location of the service location whichgenerated the event and an assigned location of the service attendant.32. The system of claim 20, wherein the gaming machines are slotmachines, and the communication devices are interface boards thatcommunicate slot events to the gaming machine management system.
 33. Thesystem of claim 20, wherein the messaging means is a two-way pagingsystem and the message receiving means are two-way pagers.
 34. Thesystem of claim 33, wherein: the primary service attendant can accept ordecline to service an event using the two-way message receiver, andwherein: in response to the primary service attendant declining toservice an event, the decision making means selects a secondary serviceattendant for servicing the event, and the messaging system transmits amessage to the secondary service attendant to service the event.
 35. Thesystem of claim 33, wherein: the primary service attendant can accept ordecline to service an event using the two-way message receiver, andwherein: in response to the primary service attendant accepting toservice an event, the decision making means establishes the primaryservice attendant as being unavailable to service another event untilthe primary service provider completes service of the accepted event.36. The system of claim 20, wherein the decision making means monitorsthe time taken to service each event, and responsive to time taken toservice an event exceeding a threshold amount, the decision making meansselects an employee to notify of the incomplete service, and instructsthe messaging system to transmit a message to the selected employee. 37.The system of claim 20, further comprising: a customer database,communicatively coupled to the decision making means and containingcustomer records indicating for each customer a measure of thecustomer's value and the customer's identification number, the decisionmaking means receiving from a service location a customer identificationnumber and querying the customer database with the received customeridentification number to obtain the measure of the customer's value, thedecision making means scheduling the event for service according to theobtained customer value.
 38. The system of claim 37, wherein eachservice location includes a customer identification card reader, forreading a customer identification number from a customer identificationcard.
 39. A system for servicing customers in a business establishment,the system comprising: a plurality of service locations physicallylocated in a business establishment, each service location including ameans for transmitting from the service location a message pertaining toan event at the service location and for which a customer who isphysically located at the service location in the business establishmentneeds service by a service attendant, wherein the service locationscomprise gaming machines, and the means for transmitting is adapted tocommunicate game events to a gaming machine management system; means forreceiving the transmitted message; means, communicatively coupled to thereceiving means, for scheduling the event according to at least thevalue of the customer, wherein the value of the customer comprises adynamic theoretical win profile that is based at least in part on anestimate of the business establishment's expected revenue per timeperiod based on the customer's historical gaming activity; means forselecting a first service attendant for servicing the scheduled event;and means for transmitting a message to the first service attendantidentifying a physical location in the business establishment,corresponding to the service location to which the first primary serviceattendant is to travel to service for the event.
 40. A method ofservicing customers in a business establishment, the method comprising:at a service location physically located in a business establishment,identifying an event at the service location for which a customer who isphysically located at the service location in the business establishmentneeds service by a service attendant, wherein the service locationcomprises a gaming machine; transmitting from a communication device atthe service location to a gaming machine management system a messagepertaining to the identified event at the service location; receivingthe transmitted message; scheduling the event for servicing by a firstservice attendant according to at least a value of the customer at theservice location that generated the event, wherein the value of thecustomer comprises a dynamic theoretical win profile that is based atleast in part on an estimate of the business establishment's expectedrevenue per time period based on the customer's historical gamingactivity; transmitting a message to the first service attendantidentifying a physical location in the business establishment, whichcorresponds to the service location to be serviced for the event; anddispatching the first service attendant to travel to the servicelocation and service the event.
 41. The method of claim 40, furthercomprising: receiving from a customer at a service location dataidentifying the customer, wherein transmitted message includes the dataidentifying at least one of a the customer or the service location; andscheduling the event for servicing by a first service attendantaccording to at least a value of the customer at the service locationcomprises determining from the identifying data the value of thecustomer.
 42. The method of claim 40, wherein the service locations arehotel rooms.
 43. The method of claim 40, wherein the service locationsare cruise ship cabins.
 44. The method of claim 40, wherein the servicelocations are amusement part facilities.
 45. The method of claim 40,wherein the service locations are restaurant tables.
 46. The method ofclaim 40, further comprising: receiving from the first service attendanta message declining to service an event; selecting a second serviceattendant to service the event; and transmitting a message to the secondservice attendant to service the event.
 47. The method of claim 40,wherein: receiving from the first service attendant a message acceptingto service an event; and establishing the first service attendant asbeing unavailable to service another event until the first serviceprovider completes service of the accepted event.
 48. The method ofclaim 47, wherein the message from the first service attendant istransmitted from a communication device fixed at the service location.49. The method of claim 40, further comprising: monitoring the timetaken to service the event; and responsive to the time taken to servicean event exceeding a threshold amount, transmitting a message to anotheremployee to notify of the incomplete service.
 50. The method of claim40, further comprising: monitoring an aggregate performance criteria forservicing the events; and responsive the aggregate performance criteriaexceeding a threshold amount, transmitting a message to supervisor. 51.The method of claim 40, further comprising: responsive to not receiving,within a predetermined amount of time, an acceptance from the firstservice attendant of the message to service the event, transmitting amessage to a second service attendant to service the event.
 52. Themethod of claim 40, wherein scheduling the event for servicing furthercomprises: scheduling the event for servicing using a plurality ofrules.
 53. The method of claim 40, wherein scheduling the event forservicing further comprises: scheduling the event for servicingaccording to an age of the event.
 54. The method of claim 40, whereinscheduling the event for servicing further comprises: scheduling theevent for servicing according to a type of event.
 55. The method ofclaim 40, wherein the customer value is based on a room rate of a roomoccupied by the customer.
 56. The method of claim 40, wherein thecustomer value is based on a room type of a room occupied by thecustomer.
 57. The method of claim 40, wherein the customer value isbased on a number of persons in a party associated with the customer.58. The method of claim 40, wherein scheduling the event for servicingfurther comprises: scheduling the event for servicing according to alocation of the service location.
 59. The method of claim 40, whereinscheduling the event for servicing further comprises: scheduling theevent for servicing according to a combination of an age of the eventand a value of the customer.
 60. The method of claim 40, whereinscheduling the event for servicing further comprises: selecting aservice attendant for servicing an event based on a location of theservice location which generated the event and an assigned location ofthe service attendant.
 61. The method of claim 40, wherein schedulingthe event for servicing further comprises: messaging a supervisor of thefirst service attendant if the first service attendant has not completedservicing the event in a certain amount of time.
 62. The method of claim40, wherein scheduling the event for servicing further comprises:scheduling the event for servicing according to, an age of the event, atype of event, a location of the service location; and selecting aservice attendant for servicing an event based on a location of theservice location which generated the event and an assigned location ofthe service attendant.
 63. The method of claim 40, further comprising:receiving from the service location a customer identification number;querying a customer database with the received customer identificationnumber to obtain the measure of the customer's value; and scheduling theevent for service according to the obtained customer value.
 64. Themethod of claim 40, wherein each service location includes a customeridentification card reader, for reading a customer identification numberfrom a customer identification card.
 65. The method of claim 40, whereinscheduling the event further comprises scheduling the event usingscheduling rules pertaining to an amount of time an event has beenpending, an evaluation of the customer's value, and a type of the event.66. The method of claim 40, wherein the event is a jackpot at a gamingmachine.
 67. A system for providing service to customers in a businessestablishment, the system comprising: a plurality of service locationsphysically located in a business establishment, each service locationincluding a communication device adapted to communicate one or moreevents pertaining to a service event for a customer who is physicallylocated at the service location in the business establishment, whereinthe service locations comprise gaming machines, and the communicationdevices of the gaming machines are adapted to communicate game events toa gaming machine management system; a decisioning system for schedulingthe events for service, by receiving the events from the communicationdevices and using a plurality of rules to select a primary serviceattendant for servicing each event including at least one rule toschedule an event based on a value of the customer, to produce aperiodically updated event service schedule, wherein the value of thecustomer comprises a dynamic theoretical win profile that is based atleast in part on an estimate of the business establishment's expectedrevenue per time period based on the customer's historical gamingactivity; a communication system for transmitting a message to theprimary service attendant selected for an event, by way of a two-waycommunication network, to produce a message indicating to the primaryservice attendant a physical location in the business establishment,corresponding to the service location to which the primary serviceattendant is to travel to service the event; and a plurality of messagereceivers for receiving the messages from the communication systemtransmitted to the service attendants, by way of the two-waycommunication network, to produce to the service attendant a message.